Video: Tourists look at ravaged New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans bruised and battered, sweeping away billions of dollars of potential tourism business. But like the city, the tourism industry is on the mend. Visitors are returning to New Orleans in bigger numbers, and they aren’t just going for the nightlife on Bourbon Street: One of the biggest attractions is storm damage.

The beignets are back, and so is the Cajun flavor. Tourists are returning to New Orleans for a taste of it all — and they mean all. What some of them want most is a sampling of Katrina: snapshots, they say, of history and the city’s now-infamous levees.

Isabelle Cossart’s tour business took a hit during the storm, and so she’s hitting back with Katrina disaster tours.

It’s a twist that could help restore some of the $1 billion tourism dollars already lost.

Even big tour companies like Grayline see Katrina as a potential blockbuster, proclaiming it on their Web site online booking page as “America’s worst catastrophe.”

In bad taste?
It may be a sign of the times, but it’s a sign not welcomed by everyone.